Pool Deck Exceeding 42" From Grade

Sec. 4-928. – Swimming pools, tennis courts, porches, decks and similar recreational facilities.

b. Open-mesh screen enclosures. Swimming pools, patios, decks and other similar recreational facilities may be enclosed with an open-mesh screen enclosure provided that the enclosure complies with the setback requirements set forth in section 4-926, and provided further that:

1. At least three sides of the enclosure are open-mesh screening from a height of 3½ feet above grade to the top of the enclosure.
2. Enclosures with any two or more sides enclosed by opaque material shall be required to comply with all setbacks required for a principal building. It shall be the responsibility of the applicant to increase all required setbacks sufficient to provide maintenance access around the pool whenever the pool is proposed to be enclosed with open-mesh screening or fencing. A minimum increase in setbacks of three feet is recommended.

Opaque material is not limited to “enclosures.” In fact, material around an elevated deck (base, fill, etc.) which is opaque and exceeds 42″ above grade must comply as noted.

Sec. 4-1894. – Setbacks from bodies of water.

1. Gulf of Mexico. Except as provided in this section or elsewhere in this chapter, buildings and structures may not be placed closer to the Gulf of Mexico than set forth in chapter 5, article III, pertaining to coastal zone protection, or 50 feet from mean high water, whichever is the most restrictive.
2. Other bodies of water. Except as provided in this section or elsewhere in this chapter, buildings and structures may not be placed closer than 25 feet to a canal or to a bay or other water body or the distance required by the provisions of chapter 5, article IV, pertaining to flood hazard reduction, whichever is greater.

(3) Other accessory structures. Certain accessory buildings and structures which are not structurally part of the principal structure may be permitted closer to a body of water as follows:

b. Non-roofed structures.

1. Swimming pools, tennis courts, patios, and other non-roofed accessory structures or facilities which are not enclosed, except by fence, or which are enclosed on at least three sides with open mesh screening from a height of 3½ feet above grade to the top of the enclosure, shall be permitted up to but not closer than:
   
   
   1. Five feet from a seawalled canal or seawalled natural body of water;
   2. Ten feet from a non-sea walled artificial body of water; or
   3. Twenty-five feet from a non-seawalled natural body of water, whichever is greater.
      
      
2. Enclosures with any two or more sides enclosed by opaque material shall be required to comply with the setbacks set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section.

Sec. 4-1892. – Measurement; permitted encroachments. Where uncertainty exists in determining grade, measurement shall be obtained from the center-line of the road fronting the subject property